Steve Kerr: ‘No Plans’ for Kevin Durant to Start for Team USA amid Injury Recovery

Scott Polacek@@ScottPolacekFeatured Columnist IVAugust 4, 2024

THOMAS COEX/AFP via Getty Images

Expect to see even more of Kevin Durant as the 2024 Olympics continue.

Just not as part of the starting lineup.

“If Kevin had been here from Day 1, chances are he’d be starting,” head coach Steve Kerr told reporters Sunday. “That was the plan coming in. But given that he missed all of our friendlies and came in late, we had kind of established a lineup that we liked. When we brought him back, he was only going to play a certain amount of minutes against Serbia. And he played so well and he fit so well with that group, and it was devastating to see that group together.

“So there’s no plans on changing that. But, of course, as the Games get more difficult my guess is Kevin will be playing more and more minutes. He’ll keep coming off the bench for now, but we will lean on him more and more as we go.”

Durant dealt with a calf injury ahead of the Paris Olympics and missed all five of Team USA’s exhibition games.

That meant there was some doubt regarding his minutes coming into the Games, but he didn’t miss a beat in nearly 17 minutes off the bench in the opener against Serbia. He poured in 23 points on a blistering 8-of-9 shooting from the field and 5-of-5 shooting from three-point range in that 110-84 victory.

Kerr made some changes to the starting lineup across the three group games, including alternating between Joel Embiid and Anthony Davis, but Durant came off the bench every time.

The Phoenix Suns star scored 14 points in that role against South Sudan and 11 points against Puerto Rico. With LeBron James and Stephen Curry starting, he provides incredible star power with the secondary unit that other countries simply cannot match.

Kerr knows as well as anyone how to get the best out of the future Hall of Famer, as he coached Durant with the Golden State Warriors for three seasons from 2016-17 through 2018-19. All Golden State did was reach the NBA Finals three straight times and take home the Larry O’Brien Trophy twice in that span.

Durant also won the NBA Finals MVP in both of the championship campaigns.

He is also a three-time gold medalist and the United States men’s team all-time Olympic leading scorer. He is looking to add a fourth gold to his impressive resume and has thrived as quite the weapon off the bench.

Look for him to continue doing so in Tuesday’s quarterfinals showdown with Brazil.